London Stock Exchange

The London Stock Exchange, or LSE, is one of the world's oldest stock exchanges, with a rich history dating back to 1698. The exchange began its life in the coffee houses of 17th century London, when John Castaing began issuing "at this Office in Jonathan's Coffee-house" a list of stock and commodity prices called "The Course of the Exchange and other things."

History of the London Stock Exchange

In 1773, the brokers erected their own building in Sweeting's Alley, with a dealing room on the ground floor and a coffee room above. This location was briefly known as "New Jonathan's," but members soon change the name to "The Stock Exchange."

The Stock Exchange Tower, which was located on Threadneedle Street / Old Broad Street was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1972, and housed the Trading Floor where traders would traditionally meet to conduct business.  In July 2004, the London Stock Exchange moved from Threadneedle Street to its present location in Paternoster Square (EC4), close to St Paul's Cathedral, which is still within the "Square Mile" also known as the City of London.

London Stock Exchange Strategy

The stated strategy of the London Stock Exchange is to compete globally in the market for financial transaction services and become the stock market of choice.  The Exchange intends to grow their existing business as well as the reach and scale of their operations.  They intend to do this through business development initiatives, acquisitions, joint ventures, and alliances where appropriate.

Core Business Areas

As it is organized today, the LSE has four core business areas or offerings to the market:

• Equity Markets - enabling companies from around the world to raise capital needed to grow by listing securities in a well regulated market.  Access to these markets is provided through the Main Market and AIM.
• Trading Services - providing a fast and efficient trading platform, to be used by brokers and firms around the world to buy and sell securities.
• Market Information Services - supplying high quality, real-time information and news to the financial community.
• Derivatives - expanding to become the world's most efficient and liquid market for equity derivatives.  The EDX London hopes to move the LSE beyond their core equities markets.

London Stock Exchange Facts and Figures

The following are some of the facts and figures available for the London Stock Exchange.  These statistics will allow you to understand the relative size of the exchange:

• There are more than 500 firms worldwide that trade as members of the London Stock Exchange.
• The exchange claims to be the most international of all stock exchanges, with companies from over 70 countries admitted to trading in their markets. 
• The exchange is arguably the largest stock exchange in Europe.
• In September 2011, there were roughly 12 million trades, involving 167 billion British Pounds.
• Approximately 2,900 companies are listed on the London Stock Exchange with a total market value of 2.3 trillion British Pounds.  (September 2011)

London Stock Exchange Holiday Schedule

The following tables contain the 2011 and 2012 holiday schedules for the London Stock Exchange.

LSE Holiday Schedule 2012

On December 24 and December 31, 2012, all market hours for the LSE's trading services and markets will, unless stated otherwise, commence at their normal scheduled times and will close from 12:30 GMT (13:30 CET) on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve.

LSE Holiday Schedule 2011

On December 23 and December 30, 2011, all market hours for the LSE's trading services and markets will, unless stated otherwise, commence at their normal scheduled times and will close from 12:30 GMT (13:30 CET) on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve.

LSE Hours of Operation

Hours of operation / trading occurs on the London Stock Exchange in accordance with the schedule appearing in the following table. 

LSE Hours of Operation

Note:  UK Time is in the Western European Time Zone (WET), which is the same as Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).   Summer (Daylight-Saving) Time is observed in UK Time, where the time is shifted forward by 1 hour;  1 hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT+1).

Hostile Takeover by Macquarie

On December 15, 2005, a consortium led by Macquarie announced an unsolicited cash offer to shareholders of the London Stock Exchange.  The LSE Board recommended rejection of the offer based on the following grounds:

• The offer did not reflect the Exchange's present value, let alone any takeover premium.
• Macquarie's offer disregarded the LSE's unique position in global capital markets and strong growth prospects.
• The Exchange delivered significantly higher volume growth than Macquarie claimed in its cash offer.

Macquarie claimed the Exchange is overvalued, and the cash offer represents the true value of the exchange.

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